| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1936-05-16)16 May 1936 | ||
| Place of birth | Păunești, Romania | ||
| Date of death | 28 January 2024(2024-01-28) (aged 87) | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1950–1957 | FCM Reșița | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1957–1959 | FCM Reșița | ||
| 1959–1965 | Știința Timișoara[b] | 94 | (42) |
| 1965–1968 | Farul Constanța | 66 | (10) |
| 1968–1969 | Politehnica Timișoara | 20 | (9) |
| 1969–1970 | CFR Timișoara | 37 | (12) |
| 1970–1971 | UM Timișoara | 6 | (0) |
| Total | 223 | (73) | |
| International career | |||
| 1962–1963 | Romania[a] | 7 | (3) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1971–1972 | CFR Timișoara | ||
| 1972–1974 | CARA Brazzaville | ||
| 1974–1976 | Congo | ||
| 1976–1977 | UTA Arad | ||
| 1977–1978 | UM Timișoara | ||
| 1978–1979 | FCM Reșița | ||
| 1980–1981 | FCM Reșița | ||
| 1982 | Politehnica Timișoara | ||
| 1983–1984 | Libya | ||
| 2006 | AS Covaci | ||
| 2009–2016 | Agronomia Timișoara | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Cicerone "Cici" Manolache (16 May 1936 – 28 January 2024) was a Romanianfootballer andmanager who played as aforward and made four appearances forRomania's national team.[4][5]
Manolache was born on 16 May 1936 inPăunești, Romania, but when he was three years old, his family moved toReșița, and there he began playing junior-level football in 1950 at local clubFCM.[3][6][7][8][9] In 1957, he started to play senior football for Reșița inDivizia B where he would spend two seasons.[3][6][8] Afterwards he joinedȘtiința Timișoara in the same league, a team he helped earn promotion toDivizia A by scoring 18 goals in his first season.[3][6][8] In thefollowing season, Manolache made his Divizia A debut on 4 September 1960 under coachEugen Mladin in a 0–0 draw againstRapid București.[3][6][8][10][11] He made constant appearances for four seasons, the highlights of this period were in the1962–63 season when he scored 15 goals and the team finished in third place.[3][6][8][10] In the1963–64 season, Știința was relegated back to Divizia B, but Manolache stayed with the club, helping it get promoted back to the first league after one year by scoring nine goals.[3][6]
In 1965, Manolache went back to Divizia A football as he signed withFarul Constanța.[3][6][7][8] He would spend the following three seasons at Farul, the most successful one was the1966–67 edition when his six goals helped the club finish in fourth position.[3][6][7][8] Afterwards he joinedPolitehnica Timișoara in Divizia B for one season.[3][8] Then he moved to neighboring clubCFR where he scored 12 goals in hisfirst season, helping them gain promotion to Divizia A.[3][8] In thefollowing season, Manolache made his last Divizia A appearance on 28 November 1970, playing in CFR's 2–0 home loss toArgeș Pitești, totaling 171 matches with 52 goals scored in the competition.[3][6][8] Among these goals, two were scored in theWest derby againstUTA Arad, contributing to two draws for Politehnica.[12] He ended his career after playing forUM Timișoara in the1970–71 Divizia B season.[3][6]
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Manolache played four games forRomania.[1] He made his debut under coachGheorghe Popescu on 25 November 1962 in a1964 European Nations' Cup qualification match againstSpain, in which he gave an assist toNicolae Tătaru's goal and netted Romania's second goal in a 3–1 win.[6][8][13][14] Even though the qualification was lost as in the first leg Spain won 6–0, his performance was praised by the Spanish press:"Romania showed as a team of great character, led on the field by the kid Manolache, the "roller" in the center of the attack line".[14] Manolache said about the game:"We played with fantastic determination. We were going headfirst into the counter, on the crampons, we didn't care about anything. Just to win, to erase the stain from the national team's coat of arms".[14] His following three games were friendlies, and the last one was a 0–0 draw againstTurkey.[1]
Manolache also played forRomania's Olympic team during the successful1964 Summer Olympics qualifiers, scoring a brace in a 3–2 win overDenmark, but he was not called up for thefinal tournament.[13][15][16][17]
Manolache started coaching in 1971 atCFR Timișoara, leading the club for one year inDivizia B.[8][18] Afterwards he went to coach abroad inCongo atCARA Brazzaville with whom he won the only trophies of his career, the 1973Congo Premier League and the1974 African Cup of Champions Clubs.[8][13][14][18][19] Following his performances with CARA, he was appointed head coach ofCongo's national team.[8][13][14][20] He led them in the1976 African Cup of Nations qualifiers, eliminatingIvory Coast in the first round but not managing to reach thefinal tournament as they were defeated in the following round byNigeria.[8][13][14] Subsequently, Manolache returned to his country, and had his first experience as a coach inDivizia A, leadingUTA Arad to a 12th place in the1976–77 season.[8][13][18][21][22] In 1977 he went back to Divizia B, coachingUM Timișoara andFCM Reșița, having two spells at the latter.[8][13][18][23] In 1982 he had his last Divizia A spell atPolitehnica Timișoara when he was brought to replaceMarcel Pigulea, totaling 66 games as manager in the competition.[8][13][18][24] In 1983, Manolache returned to Africa, leadingLibya's national team.[8][14][18][20] However, in 1984 his spell ended becauseFIFA excluded Libya from all competitions for two years, due to not appearing in an away match withEgypt.[8][14][20][25] From 1985 until 2016, Manolache worked for various clubs in the Romanian lower leagues, the last one being Agronomia Timișoara.[8][13][18]
He was named Cicerone after theRoman philosopher,Cicero.[7][19]
Manolache died on 28 January 2024 at age 87.[8][10][14][26]
| Romania[1][15] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 1962 | 2 | 1 |
| 1963 | 5 | 2 |
| Total | 7 | 3 |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 November 1962 | Stadionul 23 August,Bucharest, Romania |  Spain | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1964 European Nations' Cup qualifiers |
| 2 | 23 June 1963 | Idrætspark,Copenhagen, Denmark |  Denmark | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1964 Summer Olympics qualifiers |
| 3 | 3–2 |
Știința Timișoara
CFR Timișoara
CARA Brazzaville
